Making Ohigashi is one of those small Japanese experiences that gives you something to do with your hands and something unusual to taste. At AN TOKYO in Honshu, you shape traditional dried sweets from 100% Wasanbon, a fine Japanese sugar known for its soft texture and gentle, mellow flavor. I like two things right away:…
The best part of this Chiba cooking class is its focus on food Japanese families actually make. You learn dashi, the soup stock behind many dishes, work with familiar Japanese ingredients, and then sit down to eat what you prepared. The cultural finish is flexible: sake tasting, Japanese tea, or calligraphy. I like the small…
Hakone’s best trick is how much variety it packs into one day: volcanic valleys, a mountain lake, a cedar-shaded shrine, and a hot spring soak. This private trip lets you move between them by car instead of wrestling with several trains, buses, and cable cars from Tokyo. I like the choice between elegant lakeside Ryuguden…
Tokyo is easier to understand when someone helps you read the city as you move through it. This private four-hour tour links Tsukiji, Ginza, Marunouchi, Ueno, and Asakusa, but the route can be adjusted to suit your interests. You might focus on food, temples, shopping, postwar Tokyo, or a bit of everything. I like the…
Kamakura gives you a full day of contrasts: old temples, a famous anime-associated view, stylish cafés, and the open Shonan coast. This private trip lets you choose the mix instead of following a fixed sightseeing script. You set the priorities, while the driver handles the car, parking, tolls, and route. I like the true private…
Furoshiki turns one square of cloth into a gift wrap, shopping bag, hat, cover, or handy carrier, using folds and knots instead of tape and disposable paper. In this Tokyo workshop, a nationally accredited instructor guides you through seven techniques and explains how this small craft fits Japanese daily life and modern concerns about waste….
Godzilla watches over Kabukicho from a rooftop, then lets out a roar each hour. That is the headline moment, but this two-hour Shinjuku walk also takes you through tiny bars, a giant 3D cat, a chaotic discount store, and old-style yakitori lanes. I like the route’s variety. You get modern Tokyo, comic-book Tokyo, shopping-crazy Tokyo,…
The most unusual part of this Ueno workshop is that you do not simply decorate finished paper. You work through the old process from tree fiber to sheet, including Hyouhitor, peeling the outer bark, and Dakai, beating the fibers. You leave with four handmade paper pieces and a better sense of why washi has lasted…
Mt. Fuji is the star, but the best part of this long private day is the freedom to see it at your own pace. You can choose the mountain’s 5th Station, a boat cruise on Lake Kawaguchiko, or Arakura Fuji Sengen, then continue to flower fields, springs, and traditional art without joining a large group….
Tokyo can feel like a city built for speed, but this three-hour outing shows you a slower side of it. You move from the carefully shaped plants of Kiyosumi Garden to the quiet banks of the Sumida River, then into Fukagawa Fudo-do, where Buddhist ritual remains part of daily life. The goma fire ceremony gives…
Insider guides, cultural deep-dives and current-affairs reporting on Tokyo and Japan, written by people who live here and go to the places they write about.